A very happy birthday goes out to one of our personal favorites, William Shatner, who turns 80 years old today.

When he's not fouling up our television sets with "$#*! My Dad Says," Shatner has been hard at work creating some of the most iconic and nerdy characters in our pop culture history. From "Star Trek" to "Boston Legal" to "Miss Congeniality," the actor not only created a new pattern... of speech, but also wormed his way into our hearts and public consciousness as a man that we just love to love.

So here's a throwback, "old friend," to some of our favorite roles played by Shatner over his 60-year-long career.

Captain Kirk

He faced the doomsday machine and won. He's traveled through time. He's made admiral twice. And he's saved the galaxy more times than we can count. More than anything, Captain Kirk is the man who made "Star Trek" the cultural force to be reckoned with that it is today.

T.J. Hooker

From 1982 to 1986, Shatner was veteran police officer T.J. Hooker in the show of the same name who trained and led a group of rookie police officers, including Richard Lawson and Heather Locklear, to rid the streets of criminal filth. The series also featured a guest appearance episode from Shatner's "Star Trek" costar Leonard Nimoy, which makes it a win in our books.

Denny Crane

Even when he wasn't fighting aliens and stopping criminals, Shatner was busy righting the wrongs of humanity. Not only was it critically acclaimed, but Shatner stuck with the role of eccentric but capable attorney Denny Crane through the ends of both runs of "The Practice" and "Boston Legal."

The Big Giant Head

It didn't take long after "Star Trek" for Shatner to go from savior of the galaxy to Rule of the Galaxy. In "3rd Rock from the Sun," he played the Big Giant Head, the alien leader that the Solomons had to subordinate themselves to and who did no less than wreak utter havoc upon their lives when he made his few memorable appearances on the show.

Himself

But Shatner was never one to take himself too seriously. In the 2008 "Star Wars" obsessed comedy "Fanboys," Shatner made a cameo as himself as an inside source who had the secret plans to George Lucas's Skywalker Ranch, and proved that even he can poke fun at the Trekkie/Star Wars feud that has been raging for decades.

Help us in wishing Shatner a happy birthday by sharing your favorite of his roles in the comments section below or on Twitter!